


The Sound Of Her Mind

by MyMentalMind



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game), Guild Wars Series (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Being Lost, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Guild Wars 2 - Freeform, Memories, Old Friends, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Peace, Pets, Questioning, Quiet, Silence, Soundless, Soundless!Violet, Sylvari (Guild Wars), Wistful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyMentalMind/pseuds/MyMentalMind
Summary: Explorer Violet was always an energetic, inquisitive creature.Not anymore.When your world falls silent, so do you. Violet was just the same. Caught between the screaming Nightmare and the singing Dream, Violet did anything she could to get away, to find peace. Now that she's found it, is the temptation of her old life too much to bear?A short one-shot about Violet becoming Soundless.
Kudos: 4





	The Sound Of Her Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, so I thought it would be nice to post a lil' something on my ao3 about some of my beloved darlings from Guild Wars 2. 
> 
> In this one, I thought a lot about how my cheerful sapling Violet would undergo the transformation from sylvari sapling to sylvari adult. The idea around Violet is that she looked too deep into the Dream and now is constantly fighting the pull of both the Dream and the Nightmare, forever at odds against the two. To escape that, she became Soundless, but can she handle it? I guess you'll have to see for yourselves!
> 
> I hope you enjoy~

I’m sorry I left.

I abandoned the people closest to me without rhyme or reason, explanation or excuse. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately, but what I do know is that I do miss my old life. There’s a part of me that regrets leaving my friends so far behind because I remember the old jokes and the wistful stories. Even now, the sound of our laughter has blended into my silent memories, mere remnants of what I discarded. Deep in the hidden depths of the Grove, I’ve always felt a distance there, toxicity. There was always something in the Dream that pushed me away from everyone, no matter how close to them I wanted to be.

I fell too deep into the Dream, and the Nightmare has been battling it ever since. I never wanted to fall for the Nightmare, but the Dream was just as sickening. It was paradise, a group of people who lived for a wonderful life and enjoyed every minute of it. Little by little, however, my doubts came creeping in and I felt myself begin to turn to the dark side. I didn’t want that either. The harsh reality of the Nightmare felt even more soul-destroying than the beautiful Dream. Why would I want the poison of either side in my veins if it always ended in conflicted emotions?

So, I threw it all away.

I’ve always been destined to explore the world. My Wyld Hunt was to meet people from all walks of life, to liberate them or to question them, to uplift them with a smile or to ease their pain with long conversations. Yet beyond that, my inquisition was what destroyed me. If you question too much or fall in too deep, you find yourself suffocating, and that’s exactly what happened to me. I had to make a last-minute decision, to save my mind, to save my purity. It meant that my youth would be spent in silence, but a little sapling like me has always stumbled through the world one way or another.

I’m with the Soundless now, living the simple life.

It’s not bad. I still have Linus and Ferne with me. Jungle stalkers and fern hounds usually get along, so they’re dedicated to staying by my side. I often watch them run around and play together, water dribbling from their fur as the water glitters beside them. Linus will pounce playfully, and Ferne will jump around, forever excited, as I used to be. Now, I just feel empty.

I remember the days when I was giddy - when I was excitable and interested in every little detail. I was a sapling that found her way in the world with cheer and happiness, but now I feel that part of me has been lost along the way. Leaving my family there in the Grove while I snuck away in the dead of night crushed me, but I knew that it was something I had to do. The other Soundless tell me that I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself, that I should grow accustomed to this new silence in my head. The Mother Tree doesn’t call for me, but neither does the Nightmare. I feel like I’ve fallen into a blanket of dizzying quiet, the folds of its curling arms wrapping around me until I can hear no more. It’s not something I’m used to, but perhaps this is for the best. Maybe it’s worth me forgetting about my old life and just settling down here, working myself out, growing and developing as the wardens once told me to do.

I’ve always been the happy, sweet, sapling…but now I’m not so sure. I’ve been a sapling for a year now, and yet there’s something that’s changed. I’m no longer connected. My ties are broken, my friends are gone, my mind is vacant. For now, I’m okay with that; between miracles and catastrophes, I’ve found myself somewhere in the middle, where I’m not pulled from one side to the other, constantly yoyoing or vying for what I want but know I cannot have. Maybe I’m changing like everyone said I would. Maybe I’m finally growing into the sweet flower I wished to become, its colours dulled by my mind-numbing existence.

People have always been so selfish. When your Wyld Hunt is to release people from their vices, you find that people think they know better, that they are already cured or cannot be helped. People are like lions; fierce and proud, confident to the edge of arrogance, validated only by the attention and servitude of others. Is that why I’ve come all this way, to hide amongst the silence of the villagers? Is this why I’ve fallen from grace to find myself somewhere in this mental wasteland? Is that why I can no longer hear the voices of my friends and family, carried on the wind?

I wonder if they miss me, or if they think about the times we spent together before I left. I was always so open, but now I’m experiencing feelings I’ve never felt before. It’s almost as if my cheerfulness has been washed away to find a sense of suffocating neutrality, constantly playing a game of who to avoid, which side to ignore, which side to push away. It’s always been the darkness against the light, the Nightmare against the Dream. That’s a mistake that so many make. They forget about the Soundless because they’re quiet and they make no monsters. Maybe this is where I should remain for the rest of my days, no matter how much I miss the life where I explored the world. Why do I want to go back so badly? Why do I want to return to the life where the darkness and the light battled over my soul like it was their property to handle?

I run over the facts in my mind, trying to gather what pieces of my old self are left. I don’t know how long I’ve been in this village, be it days, weeks, even months. It’s almost as if who I used to be is beginning to fade away, never to return.

My name is Violet, but my skin is yellow. I know someone used to joke about that. My destiny is to meet people, to transform them, to evolve them. I used to be an energetic, cheerful sapling, curious of the world and its delights. What other things do I remember? The people who love me have become blurred faces, like shadows in the night. Their names are somewhere in the back of my mind but I can’t remember them, almost as if I’m trying to recall the lyrics to an old forgotten song.

Quickly, I give up. It’s no use crying over leaking sap and fallen trees. What’s done is done, and now I am here, in this village, living my life like I would have done if I had no other purpose to guide me.

Regardless of this knowledge, however, there are always those memories that are in my mind. I remember a bar in Divinity’s Reach, the smell of baked bread and soft cookies, the laughter of drunk patrons and the sweet taste of sugar on my tongue. I remember the feeling of wood beneath my feet as I danced, the merry music lulling me into a magical trance. I remember the voice of a dragon, a rumbling whisper that once called me from so far away, telling me to join him. These memories are fleeting as if they were waning seasons or clouds in the sky.

I just can’t help to think…

_The old Violet never would have forgotten the past this easily._

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there she is! My sweet little sapling, having to lose a part of herself to find how to cope with her problems. What a baby, bless her heart. I really hope you enjoyed this little one-shot! I was inspired all of a sudden and I had to write it. 
> 
> Do tell me what you think of Soundless!Violet. Do you think she has the strength to pull it back together, or will she forget about her old life and move on? What did you think of her thought process? 
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed the read! See you again soon~ 
> 
> Over and out!  
> ~Mental


End file.
